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SECOND ANNUAL SCIENCE FAIR AT RED HOOK'S MILL ROAD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
TO BE HELD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25
Topic of "Exploring Your World" will feature 57 projects by local students

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—"Exploring Your World," the second annual science fair at Red Hook's Mill Road Elementary School, is a joint project between Bard College and the Red Hook Central School District. The fair is planned for Wednesday, February 25, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., in the cafeteria of Mill Road's third- to fifth-grade wing. The program, which is free and open to the public, features submissions from local students, grades kindergarten through five.

The fair's 57 projects cover a wide range of science topics. This year's theme "allowed students to explore an area of science that interests them, and at the same time, they have been able to learn about the scientific method and the design of experiments," according to Valeri J. Thomson, director of the Immediate Science Research Opportunity Program at Bard College. Thomson and Red Hook community member Joan Avenius are organizers of the science fair.

Bard College faculty and staff members, as well as teachers at Mill Road, served as mentors for the students. In November an introductory session helped answer the students' question, "How do I begin?" In December a mentor session had students narrow down and fine-tune their ideas for experiments. It featured Bard science faculty members John Ferguson, William Maple, Matthew Deady, Michael Tibbetts, and Sven Anderson, as well as a local environmental scientist Carolyn Miller, and Red Hook school district science teachers Ray Juliano and Pat Smalley. The January session, led by Thomson, allowed students to practice presenting their ideas clearly.

The science fair is sponsored by the Mill Road Elementary School Parent Teacher Association. For further information, call 845-758-7055 or e-mail thomson@bard.edu.